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The latest Archaeological Market Survey report, produced by Landward Research on behalf of Historic England, FAME and CIfA is now available. Providing a unique analysis of the archaeological sector as part of the overall UK economy, the report is based on survey responses from FAME members and CIfA Registered Organisations.

Key Findings

• The market for archaeological services continued to expand in 2015-16
• The numbers employed in the commercial sector rose and have returned to levels previously experienced in 2009
• Turnover and profitability have increased across the sector and salaries have generally increased by more than the rate of inflation
• The vast majority of income comes from private sector clients, with residential development being the most important market sector
• Business confidence is high (but has been affected by the uncertainty following the EU referendum)
• Employers are continuing to invest in skills training for their staff but fieldwork skills are still the most commonly reported as being lost
• Numbers of archaeological staff providing expert advice to local planning authorities are still falling and this remains a serious concern for the sector

Written with the archaeological client in mind, the purpose of the document is to foster an intelligent approach to the purchase of archaeological services as part of the development process. The guidance is intended to establish parity with the approach that clients would employ to purchase other professional input for their design team, and for implementation of the designed scheme.

This should be useful to both clients and archaeologists looking to establish a shared approach to procurement.

The Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers (FAME) carried out a survey in 2012 of undeposited archaeological archives in England, Scotland and Wales. The results suggest that the total number of undeposited completed archives in cost around £300,000 to store annually.

The principal reasons given for museums not accepting archaeological archives were that stores were full, no store existed for the area, no resources were available to accession them, or stores were temporarily closed. There was general consensus that the problem of undeposited completed archives was critical and worsening, and that doing nothing to address it was not an option.

Three interlinked solutions were most widely favoured.

County or multi-county resource centres and archives stores should be established, to enhance capacity, concentrate expertise, provide greater consistency, and offer improved access to archives in regular use.

A much more robust and rigorous selection process is required, based on post excavation assessment by recognised specialists, to ensure that the material selected for retention is that holding the greatest potential significance for further study, educational or community use.

Greater use should be made of digital archiving, which should be undertaken in accordance with a set of agreed national standards.